But Agnew expressed concerns that other initiatives to cut costs are not being picked up by schools.

He even polled the audience today using a show of hands on how many delegates had used the government’s cost-saving “national deals” tool, and found very few had.

“That just gives you one illustration,” he said. “We’ve got two buying hubs in the north and the south west specifically set up to help schools get better deals. We’re paying those hubs something in the order of £1 million a year to support schools in non-teacher spend.”

Agnew admitted he’d “had to learn the hard way” how to make savings after his academy chain the Inspiration Trust took on seven struggling schools and he was banned from receiving extra cash to turn them around because he also served as a non-executive director of the Department for Education.

“I took over seven schools in special measures, the department didn’t allow me to have any additional funding for those because of the conflict of interest of being on the [DfE] board at the same time,” he said.

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Janet Downs

Agnew’s claim he can sniff out wasted money in schools insults all heads and leaders. Schools can’t waste money they haven’t got.
Agnew’s smug advice is particularly unwelcome since Inspiration Trust’s Great Yarmouth Charter Academy has been rebranded as a free school. All the better to receive free school capital funding, a cynic might say.

Bubs

I bet him a case of champagne I can find savings in Westminster . Twelve million pounds on food and booze at Banqueting House per annum for starters. Soldiers to teachers is another. Cash to secure DUP votes before things got tricky also springs to mind. The £18m security bill for Trump’s visit was less than thrifty . A £6m subsidy for parliamentary bars is difficult to describe as the result of obsessive penny pinching akin to a truffle crazed swine searching for a morsel. There you go your Lordship nearly £40m saved and I’ve only been at five minutes. Doesn’t have to be Dom P Moet will do. Chin chin old chum bottoms up or down your pants or some such nonsense he probably picked up at Rugby School for £40k a year. What a clown!